Slashdot Mirror
Underground App Store Courts the Jailbroken
PainMeds writes "Apple's stepped-up and controversial rejections are helping to foster competition in the app store marketplace. According to an article by Wired, developers aren't taking AppStore rejection lying down, but are turning to the hacking community's repository system for the iPhone to launch an app store of their own. The 4-month-old Cydia store is yielding notably higher sales for a few application developers than Apple's AppStore, and is reportedly running on over 4 million Apple iPhone devices, with perhaps 350,000 connected at any one time. In this store, developers are distributing applications they've written that push the limits of Apple's normal AppStore policies, with software to add file downloads to Safari, trick applications into thinking they're on Wi-Fi (for VoIP), and enhance other types functionality. You'll also find the popular Google Voice application, which was recently rejected by Apple. Third party application development has been around since 2007, when the iPhone was originally introduced, and became so popular that O'Reilly Media published a book geared toward writing applications before an SDK was available. The Cydia store acts as both a free package repository and commercial storefront to third-party developers."
Posts from the ostensibly-libertarian about how much safer and nicer it is firmly under steve's thumb...
What I find most amazing about this whole thing is that Jobs keeps repeating the same mistakes that made Apple the #2 computer maker in the world (as opposed to #1). Apple computers have always had this 'elitest' mentality, more expensive, insufficient quantity of freely available applications due to a closed hardware standard. Meanwhile the IBM compatible cleaned up not due to superior product but openly replaceable components and a variety of applications that could be traded, installed, hacked, improved, etc. . . . .
I personally couldn't care less about the iPhone, but I do own a touch and the ability to use a variety of "non-blessed" apps makes it a more useful device as there is a greater variety of things that CAN be done with it. Remember the old BBS days? You could cruise the different file download areas and oh all the wonderful little trinkets you could find and do with your pc? My touch is starting to become the same way. A truly easy to use portable computer.
*sigh* will Apple ever learn?
He seemed rather blissful in his ignorance. Stop trying to harsh his ill-informed vibe.
You'd have to intentionally not look at all for any solutions to not have run across something like Air Sharing or Easy Share. A quick search on the app store would have turned something up.